Many people dream of getting a profession that would pay well and help them meet a prestigious status. One of these types of work is that of a top manager. The profession has many advantages. Salaries of top managers in Russia today are quite high, people in this profession receive at least 50,000 rubles, and the upper ceiling is determined only by company policy. For example, one can only imagine what the salaries of Gazprom's top managers are. Indeed, in 2014, the company allocated more than 1,117 million rubles for the maintenance of the management staff. Therefore, getting such a position is the dream of thousands of people. Many people have heard about it, but not everyone knows what it is. Before becoming a top manager, it is important to understand the most important thing: who is he, and is it worth striving for such a job? There's a lot to think about. So, top manager - who is it? Let's take a closer look.
Who is a top manager?
Top manager - who is it? The most important thing to remember is that representatives of this profession are the top officials of any company. This is not only the CEO, but also any other employees included in management. Unlike the usual one, a manager with the prefix “top” means involvement in the highest echelon. This is an unspoken, but well-known rule. A top manager of a bank or any other organization may have subordinate employees such as:
- Financial director.
- Commercial manager.
- Production Director.
- If available, the company development director.
If the company is very small, there may be only one top manager. But such a position is usually talked about only in relation to large companies and corporations. For example, the words “top manager of Roscosmos” are regularly heard. After all, Roscosmos is the largest company with a large staff.
Main functions and tasks: top manager - who is it?
The main task of all top managers is to ensure the implementation of the company's strategic goals established by its owners. They can be divided into two categories: functional and emotional. The first is an increase in profits, an increase in existing capital. Thus, the top manager of the enterprise must direct his efforts to increase the cost of the company, its significance, and improve production. The owner's emotional task is to increase his own authority within the state. To do this, top managers must form a positive opinion among employees about the owner, based solely on reliable facts. The predominance of the second goal over the first very often leads to the fact that enterprises lose their capital and reach the stage of bankruptcy. Top managers in sales and any other matters should not allow this to happen either. Balance in solving all existing problems is one of their main functions.
Let's summarize
Based on this information, we can say that a good top manager must have two qualities: the ability to increase the value of the company and contribute to the realization of the personal goals of the owner or founders of the production. At the same time, the specialist must maintain the ability to constantly learn in order to master new methods, techniques and technologies relevant for solving these problems. Therefore, the answer to the question “top manager - who is this?” constantly changing in modern realities.
Just the facts
Top managers should be trained regularly in the form of professional retraining and advanced training courses, visits to forums and conferences. Not all companies pay due attention to this. In fact, the actual workload of a top manager during the day does not exceed 20% of the total working time, which is why the activity becomes ineffective. Self-respecting organizations will never allow this to happen, thanks to which they will develop rapidly, outperforming their competitors.
What kind of education should I get?
The education of a manager of the highest rank must be the highest technical. As practice shows, people who have received a diploma in physics, chemistry, mathematics and other exact or on the verge of exact and natural sciences have the greatest chance of getting such a high position. It is much more difficult to get into top management from the humanitarian sphere. Also, the chances of people who have received the “fashionable” specialties of “management” and “personnel management” do not at all guarantee a place in the best management echelons of the company. With such an education, it is much more likely to get a job as a middle manager.
What do you need to know?
The second requirement is knowledge of finance and entrepreneurship. Even specialized education does not always allow you to obtain all the necessary skills. The best combination is a good diploma in a specialized field and impressive work experience. The chances of getting a top position “from scratch” are practically non-existent. Much more often success is achieved by those who rose from ordinary employees and know everything about the work of the company inside and out.
Let's stay afloat
Even after occupying the desired position, you cannot stop developing. You will need to gain a lot of knowledge necessary for successful work. Most often, various trainings and business seminars are used for this. They not only provide the basic principles of management, but also examine specific situations that top managers deal with in their professional activities.
Who to target?
The best opportunity to get a role model in the work of a top manager is to choose a well-known specialist and take his work methods as a basis. There are many classifications by which the best in this profession are distinguished: the most popular, the highest paid, the most effective, etc.
So, in terms of effectiveness we can name such specialists as:
- Steve Jobs is the legendary head of Apple; under his leadership, funds invested in the development of the company yielded 3188% profit.
- Yoon Jong-yong, CEO of Samsung Electronics, which brought her an increase of 1458%.
- Alexey Miller is our compatriot who helped the Gazprom company raise dividends by 2 thousand percent.
Among the most famous world-class top managers are:
- Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Known for his intuition - he made a fortune from investments, buying only what seemed suitable to him.
- Lawrence Ellison (Oracle Company). The secret of his success lies in leadership qualities, successful distribution of personnel in the organization and high perseverance.
- Mukesh Ambani, employee of Reliance Industries. The income of the organization under the management of Mukesh Ambani reached 4% of India's total GDP.
Women top managers are also enjoying success today. If a few years ago all positions in this regard, without exception, were occupied by men, today we can name such successful representatives of the fair half of humanity in the management of large companies as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg or CEO of Yahoo! Marissa Mayer.
To learn how to become a top manager, you should remember a number of important rules. By following them, you will maximize your chances of a successful career and effective professional activity.
So, what do you need to remember?
- You should not gain cheap popularity among employees by allowing them not to fulfill their direct duties. In any case, the top manager of Roscosmos or a small provincial company should only manage, and not do the work for others. If employees of the organization see that you work on an equal basis with them, they will begin to respect you more as a person, but will lose respect for you as a leader. Subordinates must remain subordinates, and the boss must remain the boss.
- No need to lock yourself in your office. It is better to walk around the enterprise and check its work. Company employees need to see how you conduct your business. In addition, it allows you to evaluate the situation from a different point of view, find new ideas and understand where innovations need to be introduced. Employees will not respect managers who command without leaving their chair.
- People always consider a good top manager to be a leader. If you cannot gain the respect of the company's employees, then you are unlikely to be able to develop interest in the organization that you inherited or in its owners.
- A boss cannot work alone, that is why he is a boss. A team of closest assistants must be recruited based not on personal relationships or any connections, but on their professional competence. Without a team of assistants, no top manager can do most of his work. It is best to choose specialists in those areas that are least familiar to you. They will help fill in gaps and give advice in situations that cause difficulties.
- Don't be afraid to try new things, innovate, or use your own solutions. The world today is changing very quickly, so sometimes it is their own brilliant ideas that make an ordinary top manager successful and allow him not only to maintain his place, but also to achieve great efficiency.
Resume for a top manager
What to do to achieve professional success? To find a job for top managers, it is not enough just to have the qualities to implement in this profession. It is important to outperform all competitors and appear as a more advantageous candidate. And for this you need to fill out your resume correctly.
A top manager's resume should:
- Include basic information about education and work experience.
- Focus on core skills, strengths, qualities and professional knowledge.
- Describe achievements in the specified field of activity.
- Create a unique value proposition.
- Contain a list of tasks that the candidate can handle.
- Contain basic keywords that will help specialists from HR departments quickly find your resume on the Internet.
Be special
Today's job market is highly competitive, so it's important to know how to present yourself to give yourself an edge over other candidates. The resume must be special - an essay compiled according to a standard outline is lost and is not remembered when selected. Recent trends force an emphasis on advantages and achievements, which, in turn, can tell about both the experience and professionalism of the candidate.
Your resume should present you as someone worthy of a leadership position. Your benefits must be demonstrated convincingly. Empty praise of yourself will not persuade any employer to hire you. We must not forget about the unique offer. How exactly are you different from all other applicants? Why should a company choose you? This does not have to be written directly, but should be clearly readable.
Thus, representatives of this profession must be confident, persistent people who are least afraid of difficulties.
There is no person who has nothing to learn in the field of interpersonal relationships. The ability to find an approach to your business partner and convince him of the need for your product must be constantly improved.
Competition is high. Demands on salespeople and consultants are constantly increasing. The winners in the fight will be those who know how to communicate with clients. Do you have enough specialized knowledge to counter all possible and impossible client objections? Do you have sufficient persuasive skills?
We offer you a selection of books that will turn you into a sales guru.
1. Other sales !--noindex-->
A book for sellers who have already learned how to sell, love this business and want to grow further. For everyone who likes to invent something of their own and wants to be pleasantly different from others.
Alexander Derevitsky shares examples from his own practice, offers a detailed FAQ on typical sales problems, illustrated with real-life examples. As well as recipes for organizing successful sales. The author is sure: there are no sales methods and techniques that you can simply learn and use them always. Any salesperson must be flexible and act in accordance with the situation.
2. Sales school !--noindex-->
A real textbook on how to deal with client objections. And a guide to all stages of the negotiation process and stages of client resistance. Alexander Derevitsky offers specific algorithms for dealing with customer objections. They combine elements of the art of persuasion used in the work of psychoanalysts, diplomats and even intelligence officers.
This book will teach you how to convince anyone and anything.
3. !--noindex-->
If your company's profit growth has slowed, it can be helpful to check if you're missing anything. Surely the problem is hidden in some little detail that no one has thought about yet. Maybe you don't tell the buyer about some difference between your products and your competitors' products. Maybe you are reporting it, but you are formulating it incorrectly. Maybe you formulate it well, but for the wrong audience. Or maybe your employees do not take advantage of the opportunity to offer the buyer a related product.
Do you want positive changes? Then start reading this book, point by point, and after each ask yourself: are we applying this? If the answer is yes, immediately assign the task to the appropriate department. Step by step you will increase your profit to the maximum possible.
4. !--noindex-->
Definitely the most sensational book with big sales! In the late 80s, its author had difficulty finding a publisher for it in the United States - the manuscript was categorically rejected, explaining that the principles set out in it “contradict generally accepted principles.” Perhaps it was this “contradiction” (or rather, a fresh look) that over time made the book a worldwide bestseller, going through many reprints.
The book is based on years of research by Huthwaite. The essence of the research was to compare the principles of successful work in large and small sales. The results were a sensation: it turned out that many of the skills and techniques that contribute to successful sales of inexpensive products are not only ineffective for large sales, but interfere with them.
In big sales, when it comes to large transactions and expensive goods, the seller's task is to build a trusting business relationship with the buyer. For this relationship to take place, close communication and several business meetings are necessary. The purpose of this book is to teach techniques for conducting these meetings.
5. !--noindex-->
Negotiations - both business and everyday - are a topic that is as relevant and important for everyone, as it is confusing thanks to various theories.
The main thing in negotiations is a clear understanding of your goal and the goal of your opponent. This is exactly what one of the best negotiators in the world, professor at the Wharton School of Business, Stuart Diamond, thinks.
If you know exactly what you and your interlocutor want, you can maneuver, find new non-standard ways to “play”, and can offer your opponent exactly what he is waiting for. As the overall negotiating pie gets bigger, your pieces get bigger too. Stuart Diamond offers a comprehensive framework for preparing and negotiating that will help you get your way and a little more in any situation: from buying shoes to negotiating a merger of large corporations.
No company can exist without managers - after all, as soon as a company appears, the need to manage it immediately appears. This is what modern managers do. Therefore we can say that today manager- one of the main and most in demand professions.
The English word "management", used in Russian without translation, comes from the Latin word "manus" - "hand". The word was originally used in the field of animal management and denoted the art of controlling animals. Later it was extended to the sphere of human activity and began to be used to refer to the processes of managing people and organizations. The modern understanding of this term, as given in the Oxford Dictionary, defines management as:
1) type of activity, process of managing people in various organizations,
2) area of human knowledge, special art, management skill,
So, management is first and foremost management. And management, as defined by Peter Drucker, is a special type of activity that turns an unorganized crowd into an effective, focused and productive group. Therefore, management can be defined as a set of methods, principles, means and forms of managing an organization with the aim of increasing the efficiency of its work. And the manager - as an employee of the company who has accepted responsibility for the high-quality execution of the production processes entrusted to him and, for this purpose, managing the employees subordinate to him who are directly involved in these processes.
Each structural division of the company is headed by a manager, whose main activity includes managing internal processes in the division and coordinating them with all external processes. By analogy with the grouping of structural units, some managers report to other managers, thus forming a hierarchy of managers (managerial hierarchy).
It should also be taken into account that a high level of qualifications and a large amount of responsibility of an employee do not mean that he is a manager. If he independently and single-handedly performs work related to management, this does not yet give grounds to consider him a manager. The need for management appears only when the volume of work and its complexity require the involvement of additional workers specializing in specific issues, and there is a need to manage their activities.
The ultimate goal of any manager is to achieve the required result (quality) of all production processes that are carried out in the structural unit he heads. Managing people - the company's employees - is not the goal of his activities, and is only a way and means that allows the manager to achieve the desired results.
According to experts, this profession has a number of features:
A manager is a leader and he always has subordinates. A manager can be an entrepreneur, that is, run his own business, or he can be an employee. A manager can manage a commercial or non-profit organization. Managers lead government, public and religious organizations, and the list goes on. At the same time, a manager can head an enterprise and an organization (top-level managers), or he can head only part of it (middle and lower-level managers).
Among the main functions of a manager are:
Planning - determining the goals of the organization and actions to achieve them;
Organization - structuring the work of employees, increasing work efficiency;
Directing is the process of communicating decisions from the manager to his employees;
Coordination - coordination and establishment of relationships to achieve set goals;
Motivation - creating conditions that encourage employees to effectively perform work in accordance with their responsibilities;
Control - ensuring the achievement of set goals by monitoring the work process, deadlines for its completion and timely correction of errors.
Managing an individual employee (junior manager or specialist) includes the following minimum set of actions and procedures performed by the manager:
Transfer of rights and resources: subordinate managers are given the right to manage employees and the right to manage resources, subordinate specialists are given only the right to manage resources.
Analysis of results and formation of an assessment of the effectiveness of subordinates.
Preparation and implementation of corrective management actions.
Experts note that, in functional terms, all the actions of a manager can be conditionally distributed into three groups. We can assume that the performance of functions assigned to one of the three groups corresponds to one of the three roles of the leader.
In this system, the main place is occupied by the “Administrator”, who carries out the necessary actions to manage the employees subordinate to him and create the necessary microenvironment. The “Technologist” provides technological support for the manager’s actions and preparation of decisions, and the “Specialist” is engaged in related activities of a non-managerial nature.
In some cases, specific actions of a manager cannot be unambiguously attributed to one or another role. The conventionality of the role approach manifests itself in situations when a manager has to solve problems that are simultaneously within the scope of responsibility of different roles. For example, decision making is an activity in which both the “Administrator” and the “Technologist” participate. However, the distribution of managerial functions in the form of a system of three roles allows, ideally, to provide all the functional needs of the manager.
A manager's resources represent a set of funds that he has and that can be used by him in the process of management activities. The manager's resource system is formed from several sources and includes: administrative, professional resources and psychological resources of the individual.
The source of administrative resources is the management hierarchy. The personal administrative resources of a manager include the right to supervise subordinates and manage resources corresponding to his position. Obtaining this resource occurs at the moment when the manager “enters the hierarchy”; this process can be called the manager’s hierarchization.
A manager's professional resources include accumulated experience in practical management activities and special knowledge. The structure of professional resources should be focused on providing role requirements. One of the sources of these resources is the individual himself, who independently initiates the processes of acquiring knowledge, and the hierarchy as a source of managerial experience and knowledge.
A manager's psychological resources include his style of business behavior and way of thinking. The source of this resource is the personality itself, given by the structure of basic components, including abilities, temperament, character, volitional qualities, emotions and motivation.
The balance of the resource system is one of the conditions for good managerial performance: the professional and psychological resources of the manager must correspond to the administrative resources that will be provided to him as a result of hierarchization.
In conclusion, I would like to note that only the skills of top managers, that is, senior managers, can be considered universal, since only they are applicable in different companies, regardless of industry and organizational form. The lower the manager's rank, the more specialized his knowledge and skills are in relation to this particular industry.
He may have just a couple of people under his command or thousands, and therefore, in order to become a manager, you need to be able to manage people.
A manager must be able to organize his team to solve certain work tasks and issues; he must be able not only to give a task, but to encourage employees to carry it out with the proper zeal. Moreover, employees should be managed not only by the banal method of promotion or demotion, although bonuses also help to manipulate people. He must be able to manage with his word, inspire with it, and punish with it, and therefore in order to become a manager, you must first learn how to organize people.
They also usually have a number of other responsibilities. These responsibilities may be different for each company and enterprise. In general, a manager is a fairly broad concept, and therefore he does not have any specific specifics other than managing people. However, most employers will tell you that a manager must be able to do everything.
A successful manager is a subtle psychologist who knows every person working under his supervision thoroughly. He can tell which person is easier to stimulate in which way. An experienced and successful manager will be able to advise his employee that this employee, who is demanding, can be offered a promotion up the career ladder while maintaining the old salary. And he will be pleased, admiring the new sign on the door of his office, and will be satisfied. And for others, it is imperative to increase their salary - so as not to lose a proud specialist who loves money, not fame.
A sales manager must be able to manipulate potential buyers as if they were his subordinates. And the office manager must be able to do everything he can. So a manager is a versatile person, and to become such a professional, you need to work with people and do other things that are useful for your company or company. You need to be able to work with office equipment, and know the specifics of the company’s work, and the characteristics of human consciousness, and then your career will take off.
Video on the topic
Not everyone can become a successful manager. This requires certain qualities. Character traits, knowledge, experience and skills will help you achieve success.
You cannot become a successful sales manager overnight; you need to put in some effort. If you have the appropriate education in your field, then this is a plus, but if you don’t, it doesn’t matter.
Voice production and appearance
A manager's job involves working with people, often over the phone. Therefore, you need to work on your voice and speech. The voice should be firm, confident and calm. It’s worth practicing your breathing while talking; It’s optimal if the speech and intonation are delivered by a specialist. If you don't have one, you can study and apply knowledge from various sources. You must give the impression of being a competent person.
The appearance of a manager is the face of the company. When communicating on the phone, no one will see you, but you often have to meet in person, so your appearance should be at least businesslike. You need to prepare your wardrobe in advance, think through models, details and accessories.
Product knowledge
The manager simply must be well acquainted with the product or services that he is going to sell. This includes a list of products and factual information about them. You won’t be able to remember everything at once, so you can get cheat sheets and work with their help.
We use other people's experience
Other people's experience has a certain value. You will not be the only manager, and you will most likely be assigned a curator. He will give a certain basis of knowledge and advice. If you haven’t assigned a curator, you can just sit and listen to how mature managers communicate with clients. What they say, how they say it, what they focus on, what they keep silent about.
Before work
The preparatory period before the main work is important. First of all, you should acquire a customer base. This is a list of organizations/clients, their phone numbers, addresses. Organizations often provide a database; if this does not happen, you can use a directory of organizations, which contains their names and telephone numbers. With this data we form our own database and create a “result” column, where the result of contact with the client is indicated, i.e. wants or does not want to buy, if he wants, then what exactly.
Now you need to get to work directly. Everything is ready and everything is at hand. All that's left to do is to gain experience, improve your rating, and move up the career ladder.
In conclusion, two golden rules for a successful manager. First: never be afraid to ask questions to your colleagues; it is better to solve the problem before it turns into a problem. And second: always smile when communicating with a client, this can be felt even on the phone.
Manager is a profession that requires dedication to one's work. We will tell you about how to become a good manager and everything that comes with it. Also in this article we will talk about how to become a manager in the field of PR, tourism and trade, we will give the main tips on where to get an education and what qualities you need to have. Let's start the story with the most popular manager today.
Sales Manager
In the 90s, they needed lively young people who knew how to sell both cosmetics and wagons with aluminum. They took on everything they could, indiscriminately. These are different times, and employers want to see a specialist, which means that you need to know a certain area of services, navigate it, be a specialist in a certain profile and devote yourself entirely to this type of sales. So, how to become a sales manager?
It all starts with education. Employers of mid-level organizations will also hire those with secondary specialized education. A large company will give preference to an experienced person with one to two years of experience in sales. If you are going to build a career in this direction and devote yourself to the profession seriously and for a long time, then you simply need a specialized education.
The best career option is to obtain a universal management education with a specialty in “organizational management.” This education will be useful for both a novice sales specialist and a future manager. Higher education institutions that are considered the best in this area:
- MSU (Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov)
- Moscow State University of International Relations
- High School of Economics
- Financial Academy under the Moscow Government
- State University of Management (State University of Management)
- Institute of International Economic Relations
You can continue your education through trainings, special courses or MBA programs. In this case, it is advisable to choose programs related to the profile of the company in which you want to work.
To move up the career ladder, a manager will need various additional knowledge, including knowledge of foreign languages.
PR manager
How to become a PR manager? The main qualities of a good PR manager are sociability, mobility and friendliness. The advantage of this profession is that, having the necessary personal qualities and knowledge, you can successfully and quickly make a career. This work is creative and interesting. Nowadays, many higher educational institutions train such specialists. Knowledge of the humanities is required.
The work of a PR manager is not only creativity and creativity, but also a lot of routine work. These can be various issues, such as constant daily monitoring of the number of mentions of a brand or company in the media, regular technical issues with an Internet resource, writing a huge number of analytical reports.
How to become a tourism manager
To do this, it is desirable to have a higher education, and it practically does not matter which one. However, there is always a chance to find a company that will hire you without a higher education - especially if you have suitable personal qualities. Work experience is usually not required, but if you have it, you can apply for a better position. It is advisable to know more or less geography; you need to know computers and office equipment. The specifics of the job are such that you will most likely need knowledge of foreign languages, at least English.
The preferred age of candidates for tourism managers is 20-45 years. A neat appearance is also important (as in principle in any other area of work interacting with clients).
Remember that work in the tourism business is seasonal. In the summer, the volume of work increases, but by winter it decreases significantly, which, of course, affects wages. You must be a stress-resistant person and have knowledge about the countries in which the travel company operates.
How to become a top manager
A program that can definitely take you to the level of top management is an MBA. Graduates of Western business schools greatly improve their existing positions and salary levels. The American and European systems differ, and much depends on the country. It is important to remember that this program was created for potential “top managers,” that is, people who have the necessary personal qualities, skills, knowledge, and successes, so the entry requirements may be very stringent.
So, how to become a successful manager? It is necessary to have a whole set of personal qualities that will help to conduct business in this area of business, have a higher education and always be aimed at improving results. Practical experience will be important, as will various additional education courses. This profession is very complex, because it is inextricably linked with the constant dynamics of a changing world, and therefore requires constant growth and self-development from workers. Now you know how to become a manager.
